Precision sorting apparatus

ABSTRACT

A sorting apparatus which is automatic and high speed having two relatively movable parallel walls, one wall having four leaf springs connecting the wall to a housing. A micrometer positions a tapered block which in turn causes a vertical movement component of the one wall; the springs permit only an oblique movement of which one component is that vertical movement caused by the tapered block; the horizontal component which can be readily calculated, provided controllable spacing between the two walls. Solenoids are provided to allow passage of a larger item than the spacing between the parallel walls, and direct this item to a predetermined collection receptacle different from the collection receptacle receiving those items freely falling between the parallel walls which do not cause activation of the solenoids.

O United States Patent [111 3,737,033

Toth et al. 5] June 5, 1973 [5 PRECISION SORTING APPARATUS ABSTRACT [76]Inventors: John E. Toth, 13544 Orchard Gate Road, Poway, Calif. 92064;Arthur A sorting apparatus which is automatic and high speed C. Grant,7014 Colorado Avenue, having two relatively movable parallel walls, onewall La Mesa, Calif. 9204] having four leaf springs connecting the wallto ahous- [22] Filed: July 12, 1971 ing. A micrometer positions atapered block which in turn causes a vertical movement component of thePP N01 161,735 one wall; the springs permit only an oblique movement ofwhich one component is that vertical move- 52 U.S. c1 ..209/74 R,209/82, 209/88 mm caused y the tapered block; the horizontal 51 1, 1m.01 ..B07c 5/06 Ponem which cahbe readily Calculated, P d [58] Field ofSearch ..209/73, 74 R, 88, trollable spacing between the two walls.Solenoids are 209/82, 90, 80, 8] provided to allow passage of a largeritem than the spacing between the parallel walls, and direct this item[56] References Cited to a predetermined collection receptacle differentfrom the collection rece tacle receivin those items UNITED STATESPATENTS freely falling between the parallel walls amen do not 3,351,19711/1967 Smith ..209/88 R cause ivation of the solenoids. 2,382,8858/1945 Landayet al. ..209/88 R Primary ExaminerAllen N. KnowlesAttorney-Joseph H. Golant 14 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Patented June 5,1973 PRECISION SORTING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field ofthe Invention The present invention relates to a sorting apparatus and,more particularly, to a high-speed sorting apparatus for items requiredspecified flatness dimensions.

2. Description of the Prior Art Many mechanisms require that certainelements of the mechanism be within predetermined thickness ranges inorder to function properly. For example, spring washers, Bellevillewashers, electrically insulative ceramic layers for a capacitor,electronic chips, electrical connector elements, ball bearings andmemory cores are all physically small items with relatively criticaldimensional requirements. Most of these items are manually measured byhaving a worker with a micrometer measure several spaced apart points oneach item. This, of course, is a slow and expensive process. There isalso a requirement that any item subjected to such measuring must becapable of being held by hand or by an instrument. When contacted by themicrometer, the item must not distort or compress if accuracy is to bemaintained.

In the prior art, there is an automatic device for separating ballbearings based on the spherical diameter of the bearings. This apparatusconsists of two rollers which are slanted or tapered along thelongitudinal length of the rollers so as to have one end higher than theopposite end. The rollers are disposed so as to be diverging to providean ever widening gap between the higher and lower ends. Ball bearingsare introduced serially at the upper portion of the rollers and continuedownwardly until the gap is large enough to allow the ball bearings tofall through. A number of bins or other collection devices are spacedbelow the gap at predetermined positions to collect the ball bearings asthey fall through. Such an apparatus is relatively expensive and willhandle parts which are spherical, cylindrical or flat; the apparatus islimited in capability, however, when handling flat parts which arewarped for the part must be properly oriented less the warp directioncoincide with the curvature of one of the rollers and pass between therollers prematurely.

Of course it is understood that any apparatus which is to be massproduced must be economical to be commercially successful.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention fulfills the need in theart for a device which can measure and sort small, varied structureditems quickly, efficiently and economically; this apparatus comprises ina more detailed preferred embodiment, a housing; first and secondparallel walls movable relative each other and mounted to said housing;a movable tapered block having an oblique surface for engaging thesecond wall along a bottom surface thereof; and a micrometer mounted tothe housing and connected to the tapered block for precisely moving thetapered block whereby movement of the tapered block causes a verticalmovement of the second wall so that the distance between the first andsecond walls may be precisely controlled.

It is a general aim of the present invention to provide an automaticmeasuring and sorting apparatus having a high speed and beinginexpensively manufactured.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a measuring andsorting apparatus which is reliable, simply constructed and wearresistant.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a measuringand sorting apparatus of precision quality which may be easily used.

A further aim of the present invention is to provide a measuring andsorting apparatus which may .be cascaded to allow sorting of itemswithin particular range measurements.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partially perspective,partially diagrammatic view of the sorting apparatus of the presentinvention connected to an automatic feeding apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic elevational view of a portion of the interiorof the sorting apparatus of FIG. 1 illustrating a measuring mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a more detailed elevational view of the measuring mechanism asit appears in a preferred embodiment.

FIG. 5 is another elevational' view of the mechanism illustrated in FIG.4. 7

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the use of a plurality ofsorting apparatus in a cascade manner.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT While the present invention issusceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, anillustrative embodiment is shown in the drawings and will herein bedescribed in detail. It should be understood, however, that it is notthe intention to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed;but, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications,equivalents and alternative constructions falling within the spirit andscope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a sorting apparatus 10comprising a housing 12 having an opening 14 in an upper surface 16thereof and a lower opening in a sidewall 18 to receive two collectionreceptacles 20 and 22. A micrometer 24 is mounted to a front wall 26 ofthe housing 12 and is used to precisely control the size of the opening14. A feeding apparatus 28 is illustrated in diagrammatic formpositioned to feed items to be measured into the opening 14. One suchpreferred feeding apparatus is an automatic bowl feeding device whichcomprises generally a circular bowl mounted to a vibratory base with thebowl having an internally formed track to allow dumped items to beproperly oriented and moved along the track to a chute or otherconvenient conduit directing the item to the opening of the sortingapparatus. The item to be measured will pass through the opening 14 andfall by gravity into one of the two collection receptacles 20 or 22depending upon the size of the item.

It is an important aspect of the present invention to provide areliable, yet simply constructed and inexpensive measuring and sortingapparatus which may be easily used and which provides a precisionmeasurement of the items which are passed through the apparatus.Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, there is illustrated in simplisticdiagrammatic form the more basic struc ture of a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. The opening 14 is formed between two parallel andrelatively movable walls 30 and 32. The wall 30 is part of block 34which is securely attached to the housing 12. The wall 32, on the otherhand, is connected to a movable gauge block 36. The opening 14 is in theform of a rectangular passageway with items to be measured droppingthrough the opening under the influence of gravity toward the collectionreceptacles 20 and 22. A deflector 38 is provided to selectively directthe item to be measured into one or the other of the collectionreceptacles. The path which is taken by a falling item is depicted by adotted line 40 which may take either of two directions depicted bydotted lines 40a or 40b depending upon the position of the deflec- Thegauge block 36 has a lower oblique surface 42 which engages acorresponding upper oblique surface 44 of a tapered block 46. Movementof the tapered block 46 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of thedrawing of FIG. 2 causes a vertical movement of the gauge block which ispictorially expressed by the upward directed vector 48. The gauge blockis also influenced by the attachment of four leaf springs 50, 52, 54 and56, FIG. 3, to cause an actual movement as depicted by vector 64. Firstends of the leaf springs are connected to the gauge block while theother ends of the gauge block results in a horizontal component ofmovement as indicated by the vector 62. Knowing the lengths of thesprings, the obliqueness of the tapered block and the movement of themicrometer, the horizontal movement of the gauge block can readily becalculated. In practice, the various dimensions are such that thespacing between the walls 30 and 32 may be determined by an operatorfrom the micrometer setting. It is important to note, however, thatregardless of the distance moved by the gauge block, the wall 32 willalways remain parallel to the wall 30, thereby assuring an accuratespacing for the opening 14.

Two solenoids, an upper solenoid 70 and a lower solenoid 72 are providedrespectively to move the block 36 to its maximum opened position and thedeflector 38 to its maximum rightward position respectively. It isunderstood that the opening 14 is shown in an exaggerated fashion inFIG. 2 for purposes of illustration. When the spacing of the opening ispredetermined and set by movement of the tapered block 46, items whichare smaller than the spacing will fall freely between the walls 30 and32, impact against the deflector 38 and be directed along path 400 tothe collection receptacle 20. However, should an item be too large tofit through the opening 14, a sensing device to be described in detailhereinbelow will send a signal to the solenoids 70 and 72 to cause theblock 36 to be moved to its fully opened position thereby greatlywidening the opening between the parallel walls while at the same timethe lower solenoid retracts the deflector allowing the item to movealong the path40b into the collection receptacle 22. In this fashion,items which are smaller than the spacing between the parallel walls willfall into the receptacle 20 while items which are larger than thespacing of the parallel walls will fall into the receptacle 22 andthereby be sorted.

As mentioned earlier, items such as spring washers and Bellevillewashers, for example, may be easily sorted according to predetermineddimensions. A Belleville washer is a generally bowl-shaped elementhaving a critical dimension determined by the distance between theraised center portion and the lower peripheral portion. This dimensiondetermines the spring rate or the force per unit of deflection thespring washer will have. In order to prevent spring washers which mayhave too great a convex curvature, the parallel walls 30 and 32 may beprecisely spaced at some predetermined distance with the spring washersaligned to pass between the parallel walls in a lateral fashion so thatthe above-mentioned critical dimension is measured. In a similarfashion, an ordinary washer may be measured when burrs or warping isdetermined to define a defective part.

The present invention offers an apparatus to make a determination of anitem's critical dimension quickly and efficiently. As mentioned, in theprior art it was often necessary to have an operator measure severallocations with a micrometer in order to determine whether a part wasdefective. The present apparatus obviates this problem. In addition, thepresent apparatus may also measure parts which are too small to bemeasured by hand with a micrometer. All that is required herein is thatthe item be self-supporting and have sufficient weight to fall under theinfluence of gravity. Therefore, the present invention will find usagefor measuring electronic chips or discs, memory cores, electricalconnector elements,-etc.

Other important advantages of the present invention includes automaticand high speed sorting with mechanisms that are highly wear resistant.Referring now to FIG. 4, theRe is illustrated in more detail themeasuring mechanism previously described in FIGS. 2 and 3. The FIG. 4embodiment illustrates an actual production version of the inventionincluding the housing 12 having a first sidewall 18, top panel 16 and asecond sidewall 80. The block 34 is connected by two fasteners 82 and 84to the wall 18 while the block 36 is connected to a mounting block 86 byfasteners 88 and 90. As shown, the blocks 34 and 36 are touching oneanother. The mounting block 86 also serves as an attachment to the leafsprings such as the leaf springs 50 and 54, at-

tachment being accomplished with fasteners 92 and 93, respectively. Asecond mounting block 96 is connected to the sidewall by two fasteners98 and 100. The mounting block 96 is connected 'to the opposite ends ofthe leaf springs, such as the leaf springs 50 and 54 by the fasteners102 and 104, respectively.

Mounted to the sidewall 80 is a bracket 106 which in turn is connectedto the solenoid 70. Projecting from the solenoid 70 is a shaft 108 whichis connected to a block projection 110. The connection between the shaft108 and the projection 110 is made by a pin 112 to allow pivoting as thesolenoid retracts the shaft. With the abutting relationship of the walls30 and 32, the leaf springs are slightly biased as shown more clearly inFIG. 2; thus a sufficient force to return the shaft 108 once thesolenoid 70 is de-energized is provided to the fully closed position ofthe opening. A contemplated range for the opening of the apparatus shownin from zero to 0.10 inches though it is to be understood that anyreasonable range may be chosen with the elements of the apparatus beingdimensioned accordingly.

The solenoid 72 is connected toa bracketand includes a shaft 122 havinga coiled return spring 124 located between the solenoid housing and anintegral deflector support 125.

Thus, if the shaft 122 is retracted within the solenoid, the spring 124will become compressed and provide a biasing force acting upon thedeflector support to return the deflector to the position shown.Positioned below the deflector are the two collector receptacles 20 and22 which are resting on a base 126. In the preferred embodiment, theleaf springs 50, 52, 54 and 56 are about a half inch in width, justunder 3 inches long and made of tempered steel. As illustrated, theparallel walls 30 and 32 have diverging upper portions 300 and 32a toinsure guidance to the items which are to be measured.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the tapered block 46 is shown in more detailconnected to the micrometer 24.

A pin 130 about which is a compression spring 132 is provided to fitwithin an opening 134 in the tapered block and act to position thespring which provides a biasing force against an inner surface 135 ofthe tapered block tending to push the tapered block in the direction ofthe micrometer 24. The tapered block is movable on a mounting plate 140in a sliding manner; the tapered block has the upper oblique surface 44in contact with a lower oblique surface 42 of a plate directly attachedto the mounting block 86. The mounting plate 140 includes a centralprojection 144, FIGS. 4 and 5, which is received within a correspondingrecess 146 in the tapered block.

It is now quite obvious that movement of the micrometer provides anincrease or decrease of the force acting upon a surface 150 of thetapered block, thereby causing the tapered block to slide to the rightor the left as shown in FIG. 5. In the position illustrated, the taperedblock is to its furthest righthand position which corresponds to theopening being at its maximum open position. Upon rotation of themicrometer, the tapered block is moved to the left causing a downwardmovement of the mounting block 86 and the attached gauge block 36.

Mounted to the front wall 26 of the housing is a light source 150, whilemounted integrally of the housing is a light detector 152. The lightsource and the light detector are adjustable and in the preferredembodiment the light source provides a light beam which projects betweenthe upper wall portions 30a and 32ajust above the region of convergenceof these two surfaces into the parallel walls 30 and 32. The lightdetector 152 is connected to a time delay circuit 154 which in turn isconnected to the solenoids 70 and 72.

In operation, the items to be sorted are deposited in a serial fashionjust above the two parallel walls so as to fall through the openingafter the walls have been precisely spaced to some predetermineddistance. If the item to be measured has a dimension less than thedistance between the parallel walls, then the item will fall untilcontact is made with the deflector at which point the item is directedinto the collection bin 20. However, should the item to be measured havea dimension greater than the spacing between the parallel walls,

then it will become lodged in the diverging region, i.e.,

between the upper wall portions 30a and 32a, thereby interrupting thelight beam from the light source 150 indefinitely. The delay circuit 154will receive a signal from the light source detector 152 when the lightbeam is interrupted after a some predetermined time period; after thetime period, a signal is sent to the solenoids 70 and 72 therebyinitiating their operation. When this is done, the wall 32 will pullaway from the wall 30 while the deflector 38 will be retracted therebyallowing the item to drop into'the collection receptacle 22.

The delay circuit also provides that the solenoids will be energized fora predetermined time period to allow the item to complete its fall intothe collection bin 22 before the solenoids are de-energized. The firsttime delay, that is, the time that is necessary for the light beam to beinterrupted insures that the momentary interruption by each succeedingitem as it falls through the light beam will not activate the system.The delay circuit is adjustable so that the period of time that thelight beam is interrupted before the solenoids are activated may be setas a function of the items to be measured. In a similar fashion, thedelay circuit may be set to keep the solenoids energized for a timesufficient to allow the item to fall beyond the deflector, this alsobeing a function of the item to be measured. In the preferred system,the solenoids will energize for as long a time as half a second or asshort a time as 50 milliseconds.

The solenoids may also be manually operated as a safety feature torelieve any jamming that may occur. Using such a system, an item may besorted every 250 milliseconds which when automatically fed, provides foran extremely high speed system of sorting.

The gauge block 36 is mounted to move in the direction illustrated inFIG. 2 by the vector 64 at an angle approximately 40 from thehorizontal. The abutting oblique surfaces 42 and 44 are maintained atabout 5 which in the preferred embodiment provides a ten to one ratiorelative the micrometer setting. Thus, if the spacing between theparallel walls 30 and 32 is to be set at 0.0424 inches, the micrometeris set at 0.424 to achieve the desired spacing. That is, a movement of 1inch of the micrometer provides for a movement of one 7 tenth of an inchfor the gauge block to or away from the block 34.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is illustrated the manner in'which thepresent invention may be used in cascade. For example,.supposing it isdesired to separate items so that all those items falling within therange 0.020 to 0.024 inches are segregated from all other dimensioneditems. This may be accomplished by setting the spacing of a firstsorting apparatus 200 at 0.024 inches. All items which are larger than0.024 inches will be collected in a collection receptacle 202. All itemswhich are 0.024 inches or less will be directed to a second sortingapparatus 204. This apparatus is set at a spacing of 0.020 inches sothat all items which are smaller than 0.020 inches will be deposited incollection receptacle 206 while all items larger than 0.020 inches willbe deposited in collection receptacle 208. Thus, of all the items whichare measured those falling within the range 0.020 to 0.024 inches willbe deposited in the receptacle 208 while all those, items which are lessthan 0.020 inches will be deposited in the receptacle 206 and all itemslarger than 0.024 inches will be deposited in receptacle 202. Thesorting arrangement just described may be repeated in a cascade ar;rangement of more than two sorting apparatus so that more than onesorting range may be achieved.

A suitable micrometer for the present invention may be purchased from acompany having the trade name Starrett" (No. 663L, 0-1 inch) and locatedin Athol, Mass.

walls toward one another whereby the distance be- 7 tween said first andsecond walls will be precisely controlled wherein said biasing meanscomprises a plurality of leaf springs, one end of said springs beingconnected to said housing and the other ends of said springs beingconnected to said second wall. 7

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first wall isfixedly mounted to said housing; and said springs.

3. A precision sorting apparatus comprising:

a housing;

first and second parallel walls movable relative each other and mountedto said housing;

means connected to said housing for biasing said walls toward oneanother whereby the distance between said first and second walls may beprecisely controlled; and a movable tapered block having an obliquesurface for contacting said second wall along an engagement surfacewhereby movement of said tapered block cooperates with said biasingmeans to cause horizontal movement of said second wall.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, including a micrometer mounted tosaid housing and connected to said tapered block for precisely movingsaid tapered block.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the slope of said obliquesurface causes a movement of said second wall one-tenth the movement ofsaid micrometer.

6.-An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said biasing meanscomprises a plurality of leaf springs, one ends of said springs beingconnected to said housing and the ends of said springs being connectedto said second wall.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6, including means mounted to saidhousing for quickly moving said second wall from said first wall. 7

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said quickly moving meansincludes a solenoid connected to said second wall. 7 I A 9. A precisionsorting apparatus comprising:

a housing;

a passageway cooperating with said housing having an adjustable openingwhich is precisely controllable;

a movable deflector plate mounted to said housing for directing itemsthat have been measured to sorting receptacles;

a micrometer connected to a wall of said passageway for moving saidwall; and a light source and a light detector for causing saidpassageway to increase its opening.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 9, including:

means connected to said housing for biasing said wall; and

means connected to said housing for quickly moving said wall responsiveto a signal from'said light detector.

11. A precision sorting apparatus comprising:

a housing;

two parallel disposed walls forming an adjustable passageway, thespacing between the walls being of constant dimension and preciselycontrollable; and means connected to said housing for quickly movingsaid walls relative each other between a precise predetermined spacingand a fully opened position for causing rejection of an undesirablydimensioned item.

12. A sorting apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein said moving meansmoves said wall so as to always be parallel to one another.

13. A sorting apparatus as claimed in claim 11 including means forprecisely adjusting the spacing between said walls cooperating with saidmoving means to allow the precise spacing of one wall from the otherwall while keeping said walls parallel to one another.

14. A sorting apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein one of said wallsis connected to bendable linkage for causing said one wall to move whilebeing disposed parallel to said other wall during said movement and forcooperating with said adjusting means to return said one wall to itsinitial predetermined position.

1. A precision sorting apparatus comprising: a housing; first and second parallel walls movable relative each other and mounted to said housing; and means connected to said housing for biasing said walls toward one another whereby the distance between said first and second walls will be precisely controlled wherein said biasing means comprises a plurality of leaf springs, one end of said springs being connected to said housing and the other ends of said springs being connected to said second wall.
 2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first wall is fixedly mounted to said housing; and said plurality of leaf springs comprise four spaced apart leaf springs.
 3. A precision sorting apparatus comprising: a housing; first and second parallel walls movable relative each other and mounted to said housing; means connected to said housing for biasing said walls toward one another whereby the distance between said first and second walls may be precisely controlled; and a movable tapered block having an oblique surface for contacting said second wall along an engagement surface whereby movement of said tapered block cooperates with said biasing means to cause horizontal movement of said second wall.
 4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, including a micrometer mounted to said housing and connected to said tapered block for precisely moving said tapered block.
 5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the slope of said oblique surface causes a movement of said second wall one-tenth the movement of said micrometer.
 6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said biasing means comprises a plurality of leaf springs, one ends of said springs being connected to said housing and the ends of said springs being connected tO said second wall.
 7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6, including means mounted to said housing for quickly moving said second wall from said first wall.
 8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said quickly moving means includes a solenoid connected to said second wall.
 9. A precision sorting apparatus comprising: a housing; a passageway cooperating with said housing having an adjustable opening which is precisely controllable; a movable deflector plate mounted to said housing for directing items that have been measured to sorting receptacles; a micrometer connected to a wall of said passageway for moving said wall; and a light source and a light detector for causing said passageway to increase its opening.
 10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 9, including: means connected to said housing for biasing said wall; and means connected to said housing for quickly moving said wall responsive to a signal from said light detector.
 11. A precision sorting apparatus comprising: a housing; two parallel disposed walls forming an adjustable passageway, the spacing between the walls being of constant dimension and precisely controllable; and means connected to said housing for quickly moving said walls relative each other between a precise predetermined spacing and a fully opened position for causing rejection of an undesirably dimensioned item.
 12. A sorting apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein said moving means moves said wall so as to always be parallel to one another.
 13. A sorting apparatus as claimed in claim 11 including means for precisely adjusting the spacing between said walls cooperating with said moving means to allow the precise spacing of one wall from the other wall while keeping said walls parallel to one another.
 14. A sorting apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein one of said walls is connected to bendable linkage for causing said one wall to move while being disposed parallel to said other wall during said movement and for cooperating with said adjusting means to return said one wall to its initial predetermined position. 